Students' Water Study Proves 'A Drop Saves A Lot'

Amsterdam School fourth-grader students were given a task: undertake a study of the various ways of conserving water and the benefits of doing so.

But the the students didn't just hit Google for their project, nor did they write a few quick papers.

Instead, they completed a lengthy study of the issue in terms of the impact their classmates could make, and at Monday's Board of Education meeting revealed how the fourth-graders at the school could save a whopping 100,000 gallons of water annually.

According to the students' data, a survey of water conservation methods identified two ways students could affect water useage: taking shorter showers and turning off water while brushing their teeth.

They then asked their fellow students to find out how much water they use each minute while undertaking those tasks, and charted the responses to calculate the averages.

They discovered the average shower uses 2.5 gallons of water per minute, and while the length of showers varied (as well as frequency—but the study focused on students taking two showers each week), the students noted that meant a shower two minutes shorter would save 5 gallons.

With 100 fourth-grade students taking two such shorter showers each week, the students could save 52,000 gallons in a year.

A similar analysis of turning water off while brushing teeth yielded another 60,000 gallon savings.

This proved, the students said, how "a drop saves a lot."